A CIVIL servant from Crossens is running on Sunday in memory of a friend who died in a helicopter crash.

A CIVIL servant from Crossens is running on Sunday in memory of a friend who died in a helicopter crash.

Karl Webber told the Visiter he pledged to take on a charity challenge while attending the funeral of Simon Foddering in All Saints Church, Hesketh Bank.

Simon – who Karl knew through his friend Jane Mills, Simon’s sister in law – was only 33 when he was killed in the Morecambe Bay tragedy of December 27 last year.

“I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to do a run or other challenge for charity,’” said Simon. “I chose the Royal National Lifeboat Institute because they do such great work, and Simon himself used to fly for the North West Air Ambulance.”

As well as Simon, his co-pilot Stephen Potton and five gas rig workers all died in the crash.

Karl, who works for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs in Liverpool, will be joined on the Great North Run by his old schoolfriend, Paul Mowatt, of Rathmore Crescent.

The pair met at Stanley High and have been pounding the streets of Churchtown, Crossens, Marshside and Hesketh Park since they tackled the Manchester 10k together earlier this year.

Paul, who lives in and works at the Birches children’s home in Southport, is running to raise money for the Royal National Institute of Blind People – which he described as “such a worthwhile cause”.

The pair expressed measured confidence this week, with Paul saying their target time on Sunday is “around two hours”.

Karl said: “My sponsorship is already approaching £1,000, which with gift aid will be enough to buy a full lifeboat crew-member’s kit.”